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The Parallel Resurrections: Trump and Lula’s Unlikely Mirror

08/10/2025 In the turbulent landscape of contemporary global politics, few phenomena are as rare or as psychologically compelling as the successful comeback after political disgrace. Yet our current historical moment has produced one of the most extraordinary coincidences in modern democratic history: two septuagenarian leaders, Donald Trump and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, have both achieved what political scientists once considered… Read more »
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Brazil’s Defense Crossroads: Will Lula’s China Tilt Undermine Hard-Won Partnerships?

08/09/2025 President Lula's recent decision to station Brazilian general officers permanently in Beijing marks a potential inflection point in Brazil's defense partnerships, one that could jeopardize billions of dollars in established defense industrial relationships and undermine decades of successful technology transfer programs. While proponents frame this as a move toward "strategic autonomy," a closer examination reveals troubling parallels to colonial-era relationships… Read more »
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Australia’s Strategic Recalibration: Building Self-Reliance Through Deeper Partnerships

08/08/2025 By Robbin Laird Australia stands at a strategic crossroads. The Pentagon's last-minute withdrawal from the Indo-Pacific Deterrence Dialogue in Canberra, coupled with the Trump administration's review of AUKUS and escalating trade tensions, has crystallized a fundamental challenge for Australian strategists: how to maintain essential alliance relationships while building the strategic autonomy necessary to navigate an increasingly complex security environment? This… Read more »
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Australia’s USV Program Supporting Maritime Border Security

08/08/2025 Australia faces one of the world's most daunting maritime surveillance challenges. With responsibility for approximately 10 percent of the world's ocean surface and 59,700 kilometers of coastline, the Australian Maritime Border Command (MBC) has long struggled with the fundamental problem of insufficient assets and manpower personnel to effectively monitor such vast areas. The solution has come in the form of… Read more »
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Armenia’s Geopolitical Realignment: From Russia’s Orbit to Western Partnership

08/07/2025 Armenia is executing a careful but decisive pivot away from Russia toward closer integration with the European Union and United States, driven by Moscow's failure to protect Armenian interests during the Azerbaijan conflict and Russia's broader decline as a reliable security guarantor. The EU's nuanced approach, offering partnership without demanding complete severance from Russia, contrasts sharply with traditional binary geopolitical… Read more »
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Strategic Realignments in South Asia: The New Power Dynamics Shaping Regional Order

08/06/2025 By Pasquale Preziosa South Asia, long considered the epicenter of geopolitical rivalry — particularly between India and Pakistan — is now entering a new era of heightened complexity. The region’s established fault lines are being reshaped not only by traditional animosities but also by global shifts: the redefinition of United States interests, the tightening China-Pakistan strategic partnership, and India’s relentless… Read more »
SLD Special Reports
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Shaping a Porcupine Defense Strategy for the Philippines: The Role of Maritime Autonomous Systems

08/04/2025 This report analyzes the Philippines’ “porcupine defense strategy,” emphasizing its reliance on maritime autonomous systems (MAS) and distributed lethality to deter aggression in the South China Sea. It highlights the Taiwan-Philippines-Japan strategic triangle and the critical importance of the First Island Chain and Luzon Strait for regional security and global trade. The report details how U.S.-Philippines military cooperation, including fast boat bases and the deployment of unmanned surface vessels (USVs), is… Download PDF Now »
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The Porcupine Defense: How the Philippines is Revolutionizing Maritime Security with “Small, Cheap, and Independent” Capabilities

08/05/2025 By Robbin Laird The Philippines is pioneering a revolutionary “porcupine defense” strategy that uses distributed maritime autonomous systems to create defensive geometries that complicate adversary attack profiles while providing multiple… Read more »

Congress Revolutionizes Combat Readiness with Osprey Nacelle Modernization

08/04/2025 By Robbin Laird In combat, reliability isn’t just important. It’s everything. Seconds count and missions hang in the balance. So it’s good news that Congress just made a $160 million… Read more »

Eyes in the Sky: Japan’s Historic Intelligence Leap

08/03/2025 When Putin decided upon a “special operation” in Ukraine, his focus was on Europe and his way ahead in his effort to emulate Catherine the Great. Only it has not… Read more »

Beyond Moral Judgment: How Modern Historians Navigate the Past

08/02/2025 By Robbin Laird The challenge facing every historian is deceptively simple yet profoundly difficult: How do we understand people from the past without either excusing their actions or condemning them… Read more »

The Unintended Architects: How Putin and Trump Shaped Xi’s Global Strategy

08/01/2025 In the complex chess game of global geopolitics, few developments have been as paradoxical as the way two of Xi Jinping’s most challenging counterparts may have inadvertently strengthened China’s strategic… Read more »

Beyond the Science Project: A CONOPS for Hypersonic Weapons in Today’s Fight

08/01/2025 By Robbin Laird The United States faces a critical strategic moment in the Pacific. While adversaries deploy operational capabilities — however imperfect — America continues to treat essential weapons systems… Read more »
In Briefs
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Lightning Strikes Home

08/08/2025 The first F-35A Lightning II aircraft permanently assigned to the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing taxi on the flight line after landing at Jacksonville Air National Guard Base,… Read more »

Helicopter Evacuation Exercise

08/06/2025 U.S. Marines with Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico conduct a helicopter medical evacuation exercise at MCAF Quantico on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, June 4, 2025. Marines conducts training consisting… Read more »

a CH-53K King Stallion Visits Perth Amboy High School

08/04/2025 Perth Amboy High School students tour a CH-53K King Stallion from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461, Marine Aircraft Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing during an aircraft expo at Perth… Read more »

VMGR 252 Highlighted

08/01/2025 U.S. Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 252 fly KC-130J Super Hercules in formation near Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, June 18, 2025. VMGR-252 conducted… Read more »

King Stallion in Marine Air-Ground Task Force Distributed Maneuver Exercise 1-25

07/30/2025 A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion helicopter assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461, Marine Aircraft Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, departs for an air assault during… Read more »

USS Iwo Jima Conducts Flight Operations

07/28/2025 Sailors aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) display chocks and chains to the pilots of an MV-22B Osprey, assigned to the “Nighthawks” of Marine Helicopter… Read more »

Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) Works on a King Stallion

07/25/2025 Artisans on the Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) H-53 aircraft line work on a CH-53K King Stallion, the first inducted for maintenance at the depot. FRCE inducted the aircraft April… Read more »
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The Second Line of Defense team provides high quality publications with regard to key global strategic developments. You can purchase these on a number of booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

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The King Stallion in Inter-Agency Duty

08/08/2025 U.S. Marines with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461, Marine Aircraft Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), and 2nd Distribution Support Battalion (DSB), Combat Logistics Group 2, 2nd Marine… Read more »
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